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About national bike month in the Alamo Region

This May, the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) will celebrate National Bike Month and active forms of transportation. Throughout the month, the MPO and our numerous transportation partners will be encouraging people to walk, ride a bike, or take the bus as commuting options that positively impact the economy, public health, the environment, and quality of life in our community.

National Bike Month is sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists and is celebrated in communities from coast to coast. Established in 1956, National Bike Month is a chance to showcase the many benefits of bicycling — and encourage more folks to give biking a try.

The Alamo Area MPO has National Bike Month events since 1996 when it first held the Walk & Roll Rally on the steps of San Antonio’s City Hall. Since then, there have been numerous improvements to help support multimodal travel in our community. Here are some of the key ways the MPO and our community partners are making biking and walking more accessible and comfortable options for getting around:

The Alamo Area MPO is continuing its partnership with the City of San Antonio Transportation & Capital Improvements (TCI) Department to provide free Street Skills classes to teach adults and mature teens the rules of the road for people on bikes and deliver helpful tips for riding safely.

AAMPO has developed a Bike Share Master Plan to evaluate and make recommendations on the existing Bike Share program within Bexar County and determine the feasibility of implementing a bike share program in New Braunfels, Seguin and Boerne.

AAMPO is currently working with its partners to encourage businesses in the Alamo Area to participate in the Bicycle Friendly Business Program.

In 2016, AAMPO completed its first Regional Bike/Pedestrian Planning Study, which includes recommendations for enhancing bicycle and pedestrian mobility and access in San Antonio, New Braunfels, Seguin, and Boerne.

In 2016, the Alamo Area MPO published its 5th Edition Bike Map, which categorizes the streets in Bexar County according to Level of Traffic Stress for people on bikes.

Over 230 miles of bike lanes have been striped in Bexar County in the past two decades.

Bexar County voters approved the Linear Creekway Parks Development Program, which provides sales tax funding for land purchases and trails development, four times: in 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. In 2015, 75% of voters supported the program!

Sixty-eight miles (and counting) of shared used paths now provide access along San Antonio’s creeks and rivers: Leon Creek, Salado Creek, the Medina River and San Antonio River. Ten miles of shared-use paths also provide access through Boerne, New Braunfels and Seguin.

City Councils of Helotes, New Braunfels and San Antonio approved Safe Passing ordinances to protect vulnerable road users, such as people walking and riding a bike.

In 2015, San Antonio became the first city in Texas to launch aVision Zero initiative. Vision Zero is a traffic safety approach to eliminate traffic-related deaths and severe injuries. AAMPO’s Transportation Policy Board and the Cities of Kirby and Leon Valley have since approved resolutions in support of Vision Zero initiatives within the Alamo Area.

SWell Cycle users have made hundreds of thousands of trips since bike share was established in San Antonio in 2011. You can find over 60 SWell Cycle stations around the city today.

Every VIA Metropolitan Transit bus is equipped with bike racks that carry two bicycles (three on Primo buses).